Dimmers- Post and share some of your favorite unlikely Martial Arts films.
If I note any complete films on Youtube or other free online source I will post them on future threads.
Below is a sample of Martial Art films starring the most unlikely of Hollywood BaDAsses. I doubt if the Mr. Moto series from the 1930's would ever be rebroadcast on the cable stations Turner Classic Movies, AMC or FOX.
You might have to buy the DVDs online.
Bad Day At Black Rock gets occasional airtime on Turner Classic Movies. I have not seen the re-release of Blind Fury for a few years....
''Martial Arts is such a staple of contemporary American Cinema that it is hard to remember how it was once a sign of real exoticism in a film. Among the first, if not the first classic Hollywood productions with martial arts were the Mr. Moto series of films starring Peter Lorre. These films, based on the pulp works of writer John P. Marquand had the character of international operative Mr. Moto (Lorre) deploy judo as a means of self-defense and to showcase his unflappable and exotic character traits"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Lorre - Think Fast Mr. Moto (1937) - 1st movie in the Mr. Moto Series
The films of Mr. Moto provided a sharp contrast to the drawing room mysteries that were so prevalent on the screen during the Thirties. Their plots were highly melodramatic with an emphasis on action rather than mystery. The main character himself was enigmatic, charming but highly dangerous. Of all the many film series, Mr. Moto remains the most unusual, the most surreal, the most violent, and the most fantastic.
Twentieth Century-Fox studios were happy with the success of their Charlie Chan series in the mid-Thirties, and they kept their eyes open for any similar material that could prove useful. They eventually found it in the writings of author John P. Marquand (1893-1960). Marquand was noted for his polished novels of social commentary such as The Late George Apley and was regularly published in The Saturday Evening Post. The magazine helped fund his 1934 tour of the Orient to gather background material for his stories. Marquand had been fascinated with the Orient for some time. While in Japan, Marquand briefly aroused the suspicions of a Japanese detective who was rather short and exceedingly polite. The man tailed Marquand until he was satisfied Marquand was just an author on tour. This anonymous man intrigued Marquand, and he later developed the character of Mr. Moto based on this individual. He first used the character in a serial story for the Saturday Evening Post titled Mr. Moto Takes A Hand, which ran from March 30th through May 4, 1935. The work was also published later that year as a novel by Little Brown under the less interesting title of No Hero. The plot concerns an American aviator, Casey Lee, a war hero who is working as a stunt flyer in the Orient. He becomes fascinated with Sonya, a beautiful White Russian emigree, and he becomes involved in complicated intrigue about a secret oil formula. He also meets a Japanese secret agent, Mr. Moto, who takes a hand and comes to his assistance. This book set the pattern for the series. Moto is never the main character, and he is usually seen through the eyes of some American who becomes involved in trouble. This American usually is suspicious of Moto, and this feeling changes slowly in the course of each book.
Marquand followed this novel with Thank You, Mr. Moto and Think Fast, Mr. Moto in 1936. His other Moto novels were Mr. Moto Is So Sorry (1938) and Last Laugh, Mr. Moto (1942). All were first anthologized in The Saturday Evening Post. Marquand wrote a final Moto novel, Stopover Tokyo in 1955. The Moto books made Marquand wealthy and allowed him the time to perfect his social novels like B.F.s Daughter and Point of No Return.
The Mr. Moto of the novels is sometimes threadbare and rather elusive. He is one of the top Japanese secret agents whose assignments and activities are shrouded in mystery. He is small, unobtrusive, and almost delicate in appearance. Moto is polite, extremely well mannered, and an impeccable dresser. He is soft spoken, and when he smiles, he reveals a number of gold-capped teeth. Behind this modest veneer, Moto hides an enormous number of talents. He is a master of the martial arts, and an expert in make-up and disguise. He can assume many roles effectively: waiter, valet, chauffeur, seaman, pilot, etc. Like James Bond, he is licensed to kill, and when he does kill, it is done quickly, efficiently, and cold-bloodedly. The one thing the reader does not see in the Moto novels is his ability as a detective. He meets success through his persistence rather than use of deductive logic. He is crafty, but never brilliant. There is also very little known about Moto personally. Even his first name is withheld, as his business card only reveals the initial I. A. Moto. (In the films, he is given the first name of Kentaro.) The real Moto is a cipher, but he can be a valuable ally with a code of honor.
Source:
www.filmbuffonline.com
Mr. Moto takes care of Mr. Carson - The Crooked Ship Steward in "Think Fast Mr. Moto" (1937)
Great Youtube Clip
Peter Lorre:" That is Most Unfortunate" Think Fast Mr. Moto (1937)
========================================================
Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) starring Spencer Tracey
The time is 1945, just after the end of World War II. The great railroad train Streamliner stops at the town of Black Rock Arizona. The train discharges a single passenger with only one arm named John J. Macreedy.The conductor comments that this is the first time in four years that the train has stopped there. Macreedy replies that he is only staying for one day, and the conductor comments that "in a place like this a day can be a lifetime." The train departs. Macreedy is confronted by the stationmaster who complains that he had not been informed that the Streamliner was stopping, to which Macreedy replies "Maybe they didn't think it was important." Macreedy asks the stationmaster if he can get a cab to Adobe Flat. The stationmaster replies "no cab." Macreedy then asks if the hotel is open, and the stationmaster nods. Macreedy walks into town. When the townsfolk learn that Macreedy wants to visit nearby Adobe Flat, they react with extreme suspicion and hostility. Pete Wirth, the hotel keeper, tries using a bogus excuse about war restrictions to deny renting a room even though it is obvious the hotel has vacancies. After persistence, Macreedy rents a room, only to be harassed by a cowboy named Hector for no apparent reason. Macreedy's attempts to rent a car create further hostility, prompting another local, Reno Smith, to have a private detective he knows in Los Angeles check out Macreedy's background. Macreedy then visits the sheriff's office only to find that the sheriff, Tim Horn, is an ineffectual drunken sot. Macreedy mentions that he is trying to locate a farmer named Kumoko at Adobe Flat and Horn becomes as hostile as the rest of town. Smith then accosts Macreedy feigning friendliness. Macreedy asks about Kumoko, and Smith tells him that Kumoko was sent to an internment camp after the start of the war. Pete's sister Liz drives up in her jeep and rents it to Macreedy, who drives off to Adobe Flat. Despite Liz's assurance that Macreedy will find nothing and Horn's feeble attempts to assert his authority, Smith, after hearing from the private eye that there are no records on Macreedy, orders another local, Coley Trimble, to get rid of Macreedy, despite protests from Pete and the town doctor, Doc Velie. At Adobe Flat, Macreedy finds only a burned out house, a deep well and wildflowers growing in the dirt. Returning to town, Trimble rams Macreedy off the road, then harasses him for being a "road hog." Macreedy decides to leave but is unable to get transportation to the next town and finds that the train will not come until the next morning. After enduring comments of racial bigotry relating to Kumoko, Macreedy is convinced that Smith is trying to kill him and attempts to telephone the police, but Pete will not help him. The doc offers Macreedy his hearse for escape, but it has been tampered with and will not start. After trying to telegraph the police, Macreedy visits the café, where Coley goads him with more bigoted slurs. Macreedy downs Coley with judo, then accuses Smith of murdering Kumoko; he is convinced that the wildflowers hide something buried at Adobe Flat. Macreedy reveals that Kumoko's son Joe died as a result of saving his life in Italy during the war, earning a medal that Macreedy is bringing to his father. Doc and Pete then confess that Kumoko leased Adobe Flat from Smith under false pretenses of available water. Kumoko, despite being cheated, dug the deep well, enraging Smith. Smith is further angered after being turned down by the Marines and after getting drunk, decides to "scare the Jap" along with Coley, Pete, Hector and Sam, the café owner. The incident gets out of hand and Kumoko is killed. Pete then calls Liz and asks her help in getting Macreedy out of town. Liz drives him out of town into the hands of Smith. Smith shoots Liz to silence her, then turns the rifle on Macreedy. Macreedy creates a Molotov cocktail with jeep gas, his necktie and a glass bottle. He hurls the bottle at Smith, catching him on fire. Returning to town with Smith, Macreedy finds the other four witnesses locked up in a cell. The next morning, the police escort the prisoners away as the Streamliner pulls in. Macreedy, after hearing pleas from Doc, gives him the medal awarded to Kumoko's son Joe. The conductor comments that the excitement must be the reason that the train stopped here for the first time in four years. Macreedy comments "second," then boards the train.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Day_at_Black_Rock
Ernest Borgnine adds some extra "unwanted" seasoning & love(ala Top Chef) to Spencer Tracey's Chili . Remember kiddies don't fuck around with anyone's lunch.
"In the most famous scene in a fine film, the one armed John J. McReedy (Tracy) disarms a brutish, bullying Ernest Borgnine with a very deft and well-filmedseries of judo moves. The film, often credited with introducing martial arts to US audiences, helped usher in the idea of eastern martial arts as a recognizable feature in US film."
You Tube Clip :Spencer Does Judo
Spencer owns Ernest:Bad Day At Black Rock
=========================================================
Blind Fury (1989) Rutger Hauer
"Rutger Hauer plays Nick Parker, a soldier who becomes blinded in the Vietnam War and is taught how to use a sword by a group of villagers. He comes home to visit his friend Frank Deveraux (played by Lost's Locke Terry O'Quinn) and ends up taking Frank's son Billy (Brandon Call) with him after the mother played by Meg Foster is shot by henchmen of Frank's evil boss. All the while, they are being chased by bad guys employed by Frank's boss MaCready (Walker, Texas Ranger's Noble Willingham) and lead bad guy Randall "Tex" Cobb. The final fight scene is with Master Ninja Sho Kosugi."
Blind Fury Clip
Blind Fury(1989) Trailer
If I note any complete films on Youtube or other free online source I will post them on future threads.
Below is a sample of Martial Art films starring the most unlikely of Hollywood BaDAsses. I doubt if the Mr. Moto series from the 1930's would ever be rebroadcast on the cable stations Turner Classic Movies, AMC or FOX.
You might have to buy the DVDs online.
Bad Day At Black Rock gets occasional airtime on Turner Classic Movies. I have not seen the re-release of Blind Fury for a few years....
''Martial Arts is such a staple of contemporary American Cinema that it is hard to remember how it was once a sign of real exoticism in a film. Among the first, if not the first classic Hollywood productions with martial arts were the Mr. Moto series of films starring Peter Lorre. These films, based on the pulp works of writer John P. Marquand had the character of international operative Mr. Moto (Lorre) deploy judo as a means of self-defense and to showcase his unflappable and exotic character traits"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Lorre - Think Fast Mr. Moto (1937) - 1st movie in the Mr. Moto Series
The films of Mr. Moto provided a sharp contrast to the drawing room mysteries that were so prevalent on the screen during the Thirties. Their plots were highly melodramatic with an emphasis on action rather than mystery. The main character himself was enigmatic, charming but highly dangerous. Of all the many film series, Mr. Moto remains the most unusual, the most surreal, the most violent, and the most fantastic.
Twentieth Century-Fox studios were happy with the success of their Charlie Chan series in the mid-Thirties, and they kept their eyes open for any similar material that could prove useful. They eventually found it in the writings of author John P. Marquand (1893-1960). Marquand was noted for his polished novels of social commentary such as The Late George Apley and was regularly published in The Saturday Evening Post. The magazine helped fund his 1934 tour of the Orient to gather background material for his stories. Marquand had been fascinated with the Orient for some time. While in Japan, Marquand briefly aroused the suspicions of a Japanese detective who was rather short and exceedingly polite. The man tailed Marquand until he was satisfied Marquand was just an author on tour. This anonymous man intrigued Marquand, and he later developed the character of Mr. Moto based on this individual. He first used the character in a serial story for the Saturday Evening Post titled Mr. Moto Takes A Hand, which ran from March 30th through May 4, 1935. The work was also published later that year as a novel by Little Brown under the less interesting title of No Hero. The plot concerns an American aviator, Casey Lee, a war hero who is working as a stunt flyer in the Orient. He becomes fascinated with Sonya, a beautiful White Russian emigree, and he becomes involved in complicated intrigue about a secret oil formula. He also meets a Japanese secret agent, Mr. Moto, who takes a hand and comes to his assistance. This book set the pattern for the series. Moto is never the main character, and he is usually seen through the eyes of some American who becomes involved in trouble. This American usually is suspicious of Moto, and this feeling changes slowly in the course of each book.
Marquand followed this novel with Thank You, Mr. Moto and Think Fast, Mr. Moto in 1936. His other Moto novels were Mr. Moto Is So Sorry (1938) and Last Laugh, Mr. Moto (1942). All were first anthologized in The Saturday Evening Post. Marquand wrote a final Moto novel, Stopover Tokyo in 1955. The Moto books made Marquand wealthy and allowed him the time to perfect his social novels like B.F.s Daughter and Point of No Return.
The Mr. Moto of the novels is sometimes threadbare and rather elusive. He is one of the top Japanese secret agents whose assignments and activities are shrouded in mystery. He is small, unobtrusive, and almost delicate in appearance. Moto is polite, extremely well mannered, and an impeccable dresser. He is soft spoken, and when he smiles, he reveals a number of gold-capped teeth. Behind this modest veneer, Moto hides an enormous number of talents. He is a master of the martial arts, and an expert in make-up and disguise. He can assume many roles effectively: waiter, valet, chauffeur, seaman, pilot, etc. Like James Bond, he is licensed to kill, and when he does kill, it is done quickly, efficiently, and cold-bloodedly. The one thing the reader does not see in the Moto novels is his ability as a detective. He meets success through his persistence rather than use of deductive logic. He is crafty, but never brilliant. There is also very little known about Moto personally. Even his first name is withheld, as his business card only reveals the initial I. A. Moto. (In the films, he is given the first name of Kentaro.) The real Moto is a cipher, but he can be a valuable ally with a code of honor.
Source:
www.filmbuffonline.com
Mr. Moto takes care of Mr. Carson - The Crooked Ship Steward in "Think Fast Mr. Moto" (1937)
Great Youtube Clip
Peter Lorre:" That is Most Unfortunate" Think Fast Mr. Moto (1937)
========================================================
Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) starring Spencer Tracey
The time is 1945, just after the end of World War II. The great railroad train Streamliner stops at the town of Black Rock Arizona. The train discharges a single passenger with only one arm named John J. Macreedy.The conductor comments that this is the first time in four years that the train has stopped there. Macreedy replies that he is only staying for one day, and the conductor comments that "in a place like this a day can be a lifetime." The train departs. Macreedy is confronted by the stationmaster who complains that he had not been informed that the Streamliner was stopping, to which Macreedy replies "Maybe they didn't think it was important." Macreedy asks the stationmaster if he can get a cab to Adobe Flat. The stationmaster replies "no cab." Macreedy then asks if the hotel is open, and the stationmaster nods. Macreedy walks into town. When the townsfolk learn that Macreedy wants to visit nearby Adobe Flat, they react with extreme suspicion and hostility. Pete Wirth, the hotel keeper, tries using a bogus excuse about war restrictions to deny renting a room even though it is obvious the hotel has vacancies. After persistence, Macreedy rents a room, only to be harassed by a cowboy named Hector for no apparent reason. Macreedy's attempts to rent a car create further hostility, prompting another local, Reno Smith, to have a private detective he knows in Los Angeles check out Macreedy's background. Macreedy then visits the sheriff's office only to find that the sheriff, Tim Horn, is an ineffectual drunken sot. Macreedy mentions that he is trying to locate a farmer named Kumoko at Adobe Flat and Horn becomes as hostile as the rest of town. Smith then accosts Macreedy feigning friendliness. Macreedy asks about Kumoko, and Smith tells him that Kumoko was sent to an internment camp after the start of the war. Pete's sister Liz drives up in her jeep and rents it to Macreedy, who drives off to Adobe Flat. Despite Liz's assurance that Macreedy will find nothing and Horn's feeble attempts to assert his authority, Smith, after hearing from the private eye that there are no records on Macreedy, orders another local, Coley Trimble, to get rid of Macreedy, despite protests from Pete and the town doctor, Doc Velie. At Adobe Flat, Macreedy finds only a burned out house, a deep well and wildflowers growing in the dirt. Returning to town, Trimble rams Macreedy off the road, then harasses him for being a "road hog." Macreedy decides to leave but is unable to get transportation to the next town and finds that the train will not come until the next morning. After enduring comments of racial bigotry relating to Kumoko, Macreedy is convinced that Smith is trying to kill him and attempts to telephone the police, but Pete will not help him. The doc offers Macreedy his hearse for escape, but it has been tampered with and will not start. After trying to telegraph the police, Macreedy visits the café, where Coley goads him with more bigoted slurs. Macreedy downs Coley with judo, then accuses Smith of murdering Kumoko; he is convinced that the wildflowers hide something buried at Adobe Flat. Macreedy reveals that Kumoko's son Joe died as a result of saving his life in Italy during the war, earning a medal that Macreedy is bringing to his father. Doc and Pete then confess that Kumoko leased Adobe Flat from Smith under false pretenses of available water. Kumoko, despite being cheated, dug the deep well, enraging Smith. Smith is further angered after being turned down by the Marines and after getting drunk, decides to "scare the Jap" along with Coley, Pete, Hector and Sam, the café owner. The incident gets out of hand and Kumoko is killed. Pete then calls Liz and asks her help in getting Macreedy out of town. Liz drives him out of town into the hands of Smith. Smith shoots Liz to silence her, then turns the rifle on Macreedy. Macreedy creates a Molotov cocktail with jeep gas, his necktie and a glass bottle. He hurls the bottle at Smith, catching him on fire. Returning to town with Smith, Macreedy finds the other four witnesses locked up in a cell. The next morning, the police escort the prisoners away as the Streamliner pulls in. Macreedy, after hearing pleas from Doc, gives him the medal awarded to Kumoko's son Joe. The conductor comments that the excitement must be the reason that the train stopped here for the first time in four years. Macreedy comments "second," then boards the train.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Day_at_Black_Rock
Ernest Borgnine adds some extra "unwanted" seasoning & love(ala Top Chef) to Spencer Tracey's Chili . Remember kiddies don't fuck around with anyone's lunch.
"In the most famous scene in a fine film, the one armed John J. McReedy (Tracy) disarms a brutish, bullying Ernest Borgnine with a very deft and well-filmedseries of judo moves. The film, often credited with introducing martial arts to US audiences, helped usher in the idea of eastern martial arts as a recognizable feature in US film."
You Tube Clip :Spencer Does Judo
Spencer owns Ernest:Bad Day At Black Rock
=========================================================
Blind Fury (1989) Rutger Hauer
"Rutger Hauer plays Nick Parker, a soldier who becomes blinded in the Vietnam War and is taught how to use a sword by a group of villagers. He comes home to visit his friend Frank Deveraux (played by Lost's Locke Terry O'Quinn) and ends up taking Frank's son Billy (Brandon Call) with him after the mother played by Meg Foster is shot by henchmen of Frank's evil boss. All the while, they are being chased by bad guys employed by Frank's boss MaCready (Walker, Texas Ranger's Noble Willingham) and lead bad guy Randall "Tex" Cobb. The final fight scene is with Master Ninja Sho Kosugi."
Blind Fury Clip
Blind Fury(1989) Trailer
